Fury, Fear

The physical pain faded like fireworks. Within Momonga's field of vision, the center of the room held a massive round table radiating an obsidian luster, emblazoned with the guild's crest, surrounded by forty-one luxurious chairs.

This was the room where the Supreme Beings gathered for meetings. Within these walls, they had once debated countless tactics for ambushing enemies and schemes for conquering rival guilds.

Those scenes felt as if they had just occurred...

"Bang!"

Without warning, Momonga slammed his fist onto the round table. Simultaneously, his passive undead skill, Forced Emotional Suppression, activated, yet an inexplicable rage remained impossible to quell.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Successive loud thuds echoed through the meeting room. Though the forced calm felt like a permanent status effect, it still could not extinguish Momonga's fury.

Momonga could not articulate the source of his anger. Was it frustration over the tarnishing of past glory? Was it rage at being ambushed? Or was it fear...

Perhaps it was all three. But if asked for the ratio of these emotions, though Momonga was loath to admit it, it was likely fear that dominated.

He had already been worried that level 100 players were commonplace in this world. Thus, it was both for the sake of Touch Me's convictions and to gauge his own strength in this world that he had chosen to rescue Carne Village.

But...

"Damn it!"

Momonga slammed the tabletop once more. The obsidian table remained unmoved. Rage and fear filled his heart; such a flawless ambush was supposed to be the specialty of Ainz Ooal Gown.

With the guild's strategist, Bu Mengniu, devising the plans, guild members had repeatedly PKed other players without the slightest effort. Bu Mengniu had even authored the book Easy PK Techniques for Everyone.

This book was passed around among guild members, and by utilizing the knowledge within, they were invincible in PKs. However, not everyone followed the guidance provided in the book.

It was precisely because they did not strictly adhere to those suggestions that Ainz Ooal Gown became a notorious guild.

In that book, Bu Mengniu had written, "Sometimes, it is necessary to return the loot to the opponent you have PKed to ensure they do not harbor a grudge."

If everyone had done so, without taking things to the extreme, they likely wouldn't have been so deeply hated.

Although Bu Mengniu had protested the methods of the guild members, someone had once cut straight to the heart of his true intentions for writing that line.

"Actually, you're just a coward. Come on, it's just a game. Can they really kill you in real life?"

Bu Mengniu did not argue, because the other person was right—he was a coward. He had once told Momonga that his caution was less about strategy and more about cowardice.

After that, he never brought it up again, and the behavior of Ainz Ooal Gown became increasingly eccentric, rapidly accumulating a vast fortune.

Momonga sank into his memories. Everything in the past had been so wonderful; even when powerful enemies attacked, he had his guild companions to help him fend them off. But now...

Now...

"Bang!"

No matter how hard he struck the obsidian table, he could not settle his emotions.

Momonga knew that Ainz Ooal Gown had played the role of the villain throughout their history of PKs. He himself had been deeply immersed in that role-play, faithfully embodying the image of an evildoer. Aside from his interactions with guild members, his language and conduct were those of a heinous thug.

One of the reasons he had logged in during the final moments of the game was to stand his final watch. Because of their past atrocities and the guild's overwhelming strength, a crusade of 1,500 players had ended in failure, causing them to be hated even more.

Therefore, in these final moments, he feared that those resentful players might come to raid Nazarick. To ensure his companions' hard work wouldn't be destroyed at the very end, Momonga had stayed behind.

"Damn it!"

Momonga slammed the table again in hatred. This time, his rage was finally extinguished by the Forced Emotional Suppression, yet the fear remained.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Momonga froze. Someone had sent him a message. He immediately connected, and an anxious voice flooded his mind—so loud it felt as if it might blow his skull apart.

"Ainz-sama! Is that you, Ainz-sama? Where are you? Are you alright? What happened? Say something, Ainz-sama!"

Albedo's voice startled Momonga, even triggering his forced calm.

"Albedo?" Momonga said.

"Waaah! It's me, Ainz-sama! How are you? Are you alright? Where are you right now? What happened?" Albedo repeated her previous questions, though she sounded significantly more relieved, albeit with a hint of sobbing.

"I am fine, I am in Nazarick. Are you in any danger? Where are you?" Momonga was also eager to know the situation on Albedo's end.

He had been completely ignorant of the situation at the time, not even knowing what the enemy looked like, but he could sense that they had used a Time Stop spell before he was killed.

Perhaps Albedo had some clues about the enemy.

"Waaah~, thank goodness, Ainz-sama, it's so good to know you're safe. I seem to have been teleported to the forest next to Nazarick," Albedo reported, choking back tears.

"The forest?" Momonga paused, then began to ponder.

He had originally assumed the enemy had taken him out first before dealing with Albedo. As a magic caster, if one didn't have any defensive strategies prepared, it was nearly impossible to trade blows with a warrior.

But now it seemed that wasn't the case. The enemy must have separated Albedo from him first before coming to kill him.

Momonga couldn't understand why they would do that. They clearly had two people; one could have held Albedo off while the other killed him, then they could have joined forces to deal with Albedo.

Albedo did not have a super-rare resurrection ring. If she died, the divine-class items on her would certainly drop. Was it worry...

"Albedo, where are Aura and Mare?" Momonga suddenly thought of the Elf Twins. If they were to face a player warrior and a magic caster, they would be in danger.

Mare is the strongest Guardian in Nazarick for wide-area annihilation battles, but that does not mean he is strong in PvP; similarly, Aura is the strongest Guardian in Nazarick for group battles, but she is also relatively weak when it comes to PvP.

In terms of job specialization, the Elf Twins are countered by the two enemies who are attempting to assassinate him.

Could it be that the enemy's target was never him or Albedo from the start, but rather Aura and Mare, both of whom also possess Divine-class items?

Analyzing the enemies' actions, it seems they knew Albedo would be difficult to deal with, and as a player, he wouldn't drop any equipment, so they chose to exclude them for now? Turning instead to kill the relatively easier targets, the Elf Twins.

If that is the case, then these two enemies must be extremely knowledgeable about Nazarick. Could they be players who came to this world harboring hatred for "Ainz Ooal Gown"?

"Ainz-sama, Aura and Mare are by my side. They were transported to this side of the forest just like me," Albedo said.

"Eh? Eh!"

Momonga was stunned; he had guessed wrong.

In that case, he would need to re-evaluate his assumptions regarding the enemies' identities.